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A wonderful, gem of a restaurant in the historic town of Ironbridge

Siam Cottage is a wonderful little gem of a Thai restaurant set in the heart of picturesque Ironbridge. Literally across the road from the famous bridge itself, this two storey restaurant has some mind blowing views across the river from its windows.

We have very few Thai restaurants in Shropshire so we were very excited when this one opened a few years ago, to date we have never been disappointed with the food and we visit a couple of times a year - usually for special occasions or as a treat. We went again after our first trip to Thailand last year and although we could taste a clear difference in the slightly Anglicized dishes from those we had been eating in Bangkok, we were still impressed.

This restaurant has a great website which explains all the dishes, you can also order takeaway online which is handy. Unfortunately they do not deliver but we have used the takeaway service a number of times, calling into Ironbridge to pick it up (a 12 mile round trip for us which highlights how much we like the food!).

The menu covers all the Thai classics you would expect, green and red curries, the malaysian style panang dishes and phad thai noodles amongst them. All are a good bet and in particular I adore their classic green chicken curry (£6.95).

They also have a number of speciality stir fry dishes and of these my personal favourite is Ayuthaya Beef (£6.95) which is incredibly tasty marinated steak strips, stir fried with mushrooms and baby corn, it really is delicious and compliments some sticky coconut rice (£2.50) very well indeed.

They always end up giving me a doggy bag to take home because generally I cannot finish the generous portions and do not want to leave the amazing food, the Ayuthaya beef I have been known to reheat for tea the next day and it still tastes amazing!

Prices are very reasonable. Mains range between £7-10 depending on whether you have seafood, starters (and I can vouch that the vegetable spring rolls are excellent and very moreish) are around the £4 mark and noodles are either £3.50 for plain accompaniment style or £6.95 for the classic (and more like a main meal) Phad Thai.

Service here is ALWAYS first rate. Completely attentive and very very friendly, it makes you feel incredibly valued as as customer and we love them for it. Ask if you don't like the table you get or what something changing or explaining, they are always more than happy to help.

We much prefer the upstairs room to eat in, only because the views are great out of the windows, but there is no lift and the stairs are a little steep (this is a listed building!) so be aware of this if you have mobility problems. The downstairs room is smaller and looks out on to the pavement and up at the bridge which is great for people watching but less private.

Booking is highly recommended at weekends but they do manage to turn the tables so if you turn up without a booking you may just need to wait half an hour or so - and there are plenty of pubs within a hundred yards or so where you can comfortably wait.

Also, they offer a fantastic lunch deal between 12pm and 3pm every day where for £5.95 you get a main dish (from a set menu but its quite extensive) rice or plain noodles, a drink and some free chocolate! Very good value and well worth checking out if you visit Ironbridge for the day.

This is a great little restaurant, not only for the consistent quality of the food and the amazingly good service, but also because of the location. We will no doubt continue visiting as long as they are there and we hope that they are a permanent fixture on the Ironbridge restaurant scene.